Vintage Guitar Reviews The VOX Limited Edition Brian May Custom AC30

Someone must have forgotten to give me the memo, because I wasn’t even aware that VOX was producing a Limited Edition Brian May Custom AC30 until I came across this review over at Vintage Guitar Magazine’s website.

The big news here is that the amp, which was developed in conjunction with legendary Queen guitar-man Brian May, is nearly devoid of controls––the custom blood red control panel is graced with just a single chicken-head volume knob, a power switch, and a standby switch.

Simplicity itself. Now that’s my kind of amplifier.

Of course, there’s a method to the madness––for more than 30 years May’s immaculate tone has been built around the AC30’s Normal Channel, bolstered upfront by a custom treble/mid boost pedal, and the AC30BM was built to replicate his stripped-down set-up without any extraneous circuitry or complexity.

To keep things authentic, VOX even included May’s boost circuit, though to keep things simple they built it right into the amp, and it’s controlled via footswitch. The amplifier can also run in both 15-watt & 30-watt modes, and according to Vintage Guitar Magazine it sounds equally good in both, making the Brian May AC30 a no-brainer for everything from home and small venue use, to long nights in a large club.

Of course there’s a catch––VOX is only making 500 of these beauties worldwide, with a measly 200 making it to the US market.